Kroos: Barcelona have the most gorgeous style of play, but they also take too many risks

Hupu October 7th: Tony Cross announced his retirement in the summer of 2024, and has since focused on his business and occasionally participated in podcasts with his brother. The former Real Madrid midfielder often comments on current football events, and he talks about the recent setbacks that Barcelona has encountered in recent times – including the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain and La Liga against Sevilla.

"Barcelona has one of the most gorgeous styles of playing in Europe... is the most attractive, but they also take too much risk for it. So much so that on days when Pedri, Yamal or Rafinia are in poor form, any team could hurt them and possibly knock them out," the German said of Barcelona's extremely forward-pressed defense.

"They had already encountered this situation in the Champions League semi-finals last year, and this year, whether in the quarterfinals, semi-finals or finals, they will always encounter such an opponent at some point," warned the former German international in the white troupe between 2014 and 2024. Kroos is very clear that "this will happen to Barcelona in the Champions League", although "I don't think it will be because they are dominant."

The former German player pointed out that fatigue in the last few minutes of the game was a big problem at Barcelona's start of the season: "Especially from the 75th minute, you'll notice that everyone is more tired, and they don't have another style of playing. If you're tired but don't change the style of playing, your weaknesses will be exposed," he pointed out.